1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to the structure of athletic shoes. More particularly, the present invention relates to shoe systems that include a primary athletic shoe and a secondary overshoe that can be selectively attached to the athletic shoe.
2. Prior Art Description
Many different sports have athletic shoes that are specifically designed for use within that sport. Wrestling is no exception. Wrestling shoes are made to be as lightweight and as flexible as possible, while still being able to provide support to the wrestler's ankles. What is most unique about wrestling shoes is that they contain little or no padding along the heel and toe of the shoe. In this manner, a wrestler can feel as though he is barefoot and can have great stability and traction against the soft matting of the wrestling mat.
Although wrestling shoes have many benefits when worn on the soft padding of a wrestling mat, such shoes have many disadvantages when worn on surfaces other than that of the wrestling mat.
Since wrestling shoes have little or no padding along the sole and heel, wrestling shoes provide very little shock absorption when worn on a hard surface, such as a wooden gymnasium floor. Accordingly, if a wrestler skips rope, jogs, or otherwise warms up off the wrestling mat, the wrestler exposes his muscles, bones, and joints to unpadded impact forces that can easily cause discomfort or even injury. Likewise, during wrestling practices, when a coach may instruct a wrestler to run laps, or run drills on the hard gymnasium floor, the wrestler increases his chance of injury by wearing wrestling shoes.
Of course, a wrestler may change between wrestling shoes and training shoes whenever a wrestler enters and leaves a wrestling mat. However, this is highly impractical. During practice, a wrestler may enter and leave the padded wrestling mat numerous times. Likewise, during a meet, wrestlers often warm up after having already changed into their wrestling equipment. Having to stop to change shoes between the warm-up and the match is highly inconvenient.
In the prior art, there have been many auxiliary shoes that have been designed to cover athletic shoes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. D436,245 to Krussman, entitled Athletic Shoe Cover, discloses an auxiliary shoe cover that protects an athletic shoe from water and dirt. U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,901 to Leonor, entitled Spike Convertible Sport Shoe discloses an auxiliary shoe that adds golfing spikes to the bottom of an athletic shoe. Furthermore, there are many auxiliary shoes in the prior art for covering and protecting the spikes of golf shoes and other athletic shoes so that these shoes can be worn indoors.
However, in the prior art, no shoe system has been found where a wrestling shoe with no sole padding is provided with an auxiliary cover that is padded in the manner of a training shoe. In this manner, an athlete can wear only the wrestling shoe when on the wrestling mat and both the wresting shoe and its auxiliary cover when off the wrestling mat. This improved shoe system is described and claimed below.